Monday, 9 March 2026

I Dropped My Nan Down The Toilet - comics by kids for World Book Week


If it's World Book Week, or more accurately World Book Day plus overspill, then I must have have a packed calendar of Comic Art Masterclasses in schools. Paradoxically this week was slightly less full than the previous week, or World Book Day Overspill Car Park Number Two as we know it. 


Book Week began with a special sci fi themed day at Geoffrey Leigh School in Dartford, which I totally forgot was supposed to be sci fi themed until it was over. One of those days where the teacher who booked you wasn't the teacher who was with you on the day, so no-one reminded me, or seemed that bothered. In fact I only realised it was sci fi themed when I came to sign the books they'd ordered (a bumper bundle of 29 books, for which many thanks) only to find everyone had ordered a copy of Space Elain, a book I don't usually take to schools (cos it's not Shakespeare). A conversation from way back last autumn came back to me, where the teacher had spotted Space Elain on my website and thought it would be the perfect thing to offer the kids on this special day. Where I mentioned sci fi at no point.


Staines Library was a one off afternoon class with half a dozen pupils in. Which is really all I can find to say. They were great. I've cheated that flipchart on the back, haven't I? They didn't get a special drawing of their own (a victim of Uncle Kev's mean-spirited "if I have to supply my own flipchart and pad, they're getting a drawing-I-prepared-earlier to open the class with" rule.)


Oak Bank School in Leighton Buzzard, who got me for World Book Day itself by dint of having booked me for a return visit a whole year ago (schools thinking of doing this for 2027, I can confirm WBD and the day before are already taken) included some slightly older pupils, from years 9, 10 and 11. Can you guess which title they came up with? Believe me I had to eliminate a lot of Epstein Island and Diddy suggestions from the pile before we boiled it down to their vaguely acceptable choice.


Millfield Prep was, as you'd imagine, the poshest school of the week. If you've not heard of it, google its alumni. There you go. They had magnanimously accepted being bumped from World Book Day itself to the day after (when I discovered Oak Bank's booking from twelve months ago hadn't quite made it into the right place in my diary), and were rewarded with a couple of my favourite comic covers from a couple of splendid titles. Yes, you know a school's quite posh when their title mentions drop-kicking someone through a conversion post.

The celebrities these seven groups chose to appear in my demonstration strip were: Stephen Hawking (twice - I subsequently discovered this was because he'd been mentioned in Epstein Files news that I'd managed to miss), Kim Jong Un, KSI (a Youtuber, I'm told), Michael Jackson, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift. 








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Monday, 2 March 2026

Book Sales March - live and online



Above: Me enjoying a recording breaking day at Liverpool Book Festival at Box Park.

Live events / classes et al - x books (£x)
Etsy - x books (£x)
D2D - x books  ($x)
Lulu - x books (£x)
Blurb - x book ($x)

Live Sales March 2026 = x books (£x)

Mar 2 - Exhall Grange (additional) - 9 books (£126)

9 x Romeo col

Mar 3 - Leigh Academy - 23 books (£139.80)

23 x Space Elain bw @ £6.99

(Forgot it was a sci fi themed day and I'd offered them Space Elains at a special price, so had to order them afterwards. I don't usually offer that book to schools, or usually sell black & white editions).

Mar 4 - Staines Library - 2 books (£26)

1 x Romeo col
1 x Richard col

Mar 5 - Oak Bank - 5 books (£62)

2 x Romeo  col

1 x Richard 3rd col

1 x Tales from the Bible col

1 x Space Elain col


Mar 6 - Millfield - 21 books (£221.96)


5 x Romeo col

1 x Romeo bw

3 x Richard col

2 x Richard bw

2 x FM

1 x PODS

3 x MNDT

1 x Space Elain col

3 x Kids comics (2 Sausages, 1 Humpty)


Mar 8 - Liverpool Book Fest - 53 books (£555.74)


14 x Romeo col

1 x Romeo bw

3 x Richard col

4 x FM

2 x PODS

5 x MNDT

4 x Omnibus (sold out)

2 x Space Elain col

1 x Joseph col

1 x Esther col

16 x Colouring books:

- 3 x Euro vol 2

- 2 x Doctors, Royalty (sold out)

- 1 x Cult, Bowie, Euro vol 1, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 20s, Rom Com




Lives Sales Total March 26 (up to Liverpool) - 113 books (£1131.50)

tbc

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Saturday, 28 February 2026

Taylor Swift Knocks The School Down With A Tesco Trolley - comics by kids


Here we see the fruits of a week spent in schools, almost all beginning with C: Cathedral, Cramlington, Colne, and Carnforth and an overnight stay in Cambridge, to be precise.


Cathedral School in Lancaster was an opportune last minute booking that served to break the journey perfectly, to a school that was even further north. So I was able to drive up on Tuesday morning, do a two hour class in the afternoon, and continue my drive north to Wednesday's school. 


Cramlington in Lancashire came up with a couple of cracking titles that inspired a couple of equally nice cover designs. Fool that I am, I then undertake to colour these in the evening, after my long drive to the next destination, and email them back to the school. I do hope they appreciate all this effort. 


Actually I do know they appreciate all this effort, because two schools, one of them being Colne Primet in Lancs, had my comic covers on te wall from my last visit. It's good to know they don't forget you the minute you leave. And, by the way, isn't How To Waste The Time Of A Comic Book Author Who Comes To Your School an iconic title, and prime contender to be on the front cover of next year's annual?


Carnforth High was the fourth Lancashire school in a row, serving as a good reminder of just how large Lancashire is. Having booked these schools thinking "they're all in Lancashire, they'll be close together", they were an average of two hours apart! But the drive between Lancashire schools was nothing compared to the drive to my next day's destination.


Royal Hospital School near Ipswich is one of those schools that works on Saturday mornings, with all that entails. My drive from Carnforth saw me breaking the journey in Cambridge, from where there was still an hour and bit to drive to work followed by a three and a half hour drive home. I'm sorry I've rather dwelt on the least interesting part of my work, which is the travelling bit, but sometimes this will happen. My I've listened to a lot of podcasts this week.

The celebrities these 8 groups chose to star in my demonstration strip were Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Miss Milesi (a teacher), Ozzy Osborne, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Eminem (twice, at the same school), and Claudia Winkleman.

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